Student dropouts in Cambodia are driven by a combination of socio-economic pressures, financial constraints, and opportunity costs within rural households. Many families rely heavily on older children to contribute directly to agricultural labor, family businesses, or urban migration work to supplement household income. Additional systemic factors include indirect school expenses like uniforms and private tutoring fees, long travel distances to secondary institutions, and a lack of immediate perceived economic returns from completing upper levels of formal education compared to entering the active workforce early.